In 2009, I birthed an amazing son Ian Jacob. He is 9, the size of an 14 year old, with the smarts of a 12 year old, the maturity of a 7 year old, and the wisdom of an old monk. It's an adventure.

In 2007, I married Rich. In 2012, he was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of abdominal cancer - pseudomyxoma peretonei or PMP. He had two major surgeries as well as immunotherapy at the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center in Nashville. He died at home on February 20, 2017 after a month of hospice. I'm a stronger, better person now than I was before cancer. Also, I would not wish any of what we went through on anyone.

I was born in Norfolk and moved to Blacksburg to go to Virginia Tech and get a degree in Communication Studies as opposed to a practical degree like Engineering (much to my father's dismay). After a few years, I moved back to the Tidewater area and now have a better job than I probably would have were I an engineer.

I work for a relatively small company (33 employees) that designs and supports software for libraries. This means I do technical things for non-technical people and talk to librarians every day without actually having to be a librarian. This is what they call "the best of all possible worlds" in professional circles.

In May of 1985, I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, just before my 8th birthday. In January of 2000, I started using a Minimed insulin pump and wouldn't trade it for anything. I still use a Minimed pump with all of its new-fangled features, including a continuous glucose monitor sensor.

I am an occasional participant in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and some may know me as Baroness Isabel d'Avignon. We're good people, so please don't make fun of our toy swords.

I started writing online in 2001 and while I've taken a few breaks here and there, I love writing publicly.

I named this space "in a bottle" because it's how my mother always described my name. I was born in the age of Jennifers and was the lone Genie in a sea of Jennys. So my mother always told people my name was "Genie like a genie in a bottle." Since bottles hold messages too, I thought it a fitting double entendre.